Outdoorsman

His life, the studies he undertook quietly over protracted periods of time . . . there is no "one book" . . . his mind was a burrowing mind . . . If you appreciate logic, well-reasoned arguments and objective observations --the scientific method personified -- you will savor anything related to his endeavors.

You'll not waste your time reading everything you can get your hands on regarding E.O.Wilson -- to include anything he wrote, or anything written about him by those he influenced and mentored.

The man was an absolute intellectual giant, who freely shared his amazing insights . . .

Anyone bothered that this website is rated by Chrome as insecure? Low level alert, relatively . . . still . . ?

Old coder here...multiple environments ... I've kept up, still making enough to live comfortably ... hope to retire soon.

Couple of thoughts: 1) Not a bad idea, been proposed before, drugs at a fair market value ... a little over cost ... good if true ... keeping in mind current restrictions. 2)Is this a springboard for a 2024 Cuban run at the presidency?

You sound as if you're doing well, professionally. Esteem from your work comrades, who share your work environment and it's challenges, is not to be taken lightly . . . you have excelled, given what you have to work with.

Personally, I thought in my younger years, that I could understand anything, given enough study time.

Further, I thought I could (probably) suggest innovations, if circumstances permitted, after that time of study.

I'm older now . . . and realize that I can both contribute to innovation . . . and stand aside in admiration when others innovate without my input.

There's a certain utility in that. No one can do it all; time is limited . . .

In my opinion, live content is often on target, just as often poorly thought out. The citizenry votes with ballots . . . and dollars. One is often as effective as the other in steering a nation toward ethical behavior. Keep in mind: A representative democracy is a grand historical experiment. If you value it, value the things that keep it going.

Lapham is a national treasure...time spent reading his essays, or content he has assembled, or edited, is time well spent...

I've been a regular subscriber to Harper's, as well, for a couple of decades...Lapham was editor there for many years off and on...their "Easy Chair" essay/column/editorial at the beginning of each magazine is often worth the price of the magazine itself...he started that tradition...

>You can't translation energy.<<

This is a good point...a good translation depends heavily on preserving the writer's "voice", which is unique to each writer...

Masterful translations are among the most underrated examples of human linguistic skill that I'm aware of...

Cornered raccoons fight with a ferocity that most other animals, especially domesticated pets, learn to respect after only one encounter...if they survive the encounter...

It's not uncommon for them to blind or eviscerate house pets where I live....35 acres on a rural lake...

A dog/raccoon fight in water often results in the dog being drowned by the raccoon...

They can also transmit rabies and distemper...

If you value your dog I would highly recommend that you discourage encounters with raccoons...

>You're not in a movie, fracking is not going to cause some sort of earthquake catastrophe.<<

I have in-laws that live north of Edmond OK and the almost daily tremors and quakes there have changed their lives to a certain degree...

My father-in-law goes out to check the brickwork on his house on a regular basis now, paying special attention to his chimney...things occasionally rattle off shelves and fall to the floor...

Injection well frequencies and volumes have now been reduced or entirely curtailed in certain areas of the state...

So, maybe life does indeed seem a bit surreal if you live in an affected area...

Drilling, fracking, and the use of injection wells to dispose of waste-water have apparently led to Oklahoma becoming as quake-prone as California...

The USGS quoted in a NY Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/29/us/earthquake-risk-in-okla...

>I don't know if this is the "right" decision, but I'm willing to wager that NPR will be around long after Twitter has filed for bankruptcy. <<

Let us hope so...anyone attempting to produce quality thoughtful content on a consistent basis should be encouraged at every opportunity...

NPR has advertisements on their podcasts, usually at the beginning and/or end of a show.<

I would love to see all advertising done this way--announce who makes the content possible, then get out of the way of the content...remind us again at the end where the funding came from if you wish...tasteful, dignified, makes the point, and grants recognition...

When advertising annoys people it's almost always because it gets in the way of the content...it distracts from what one is there to actually "see"...

Something so simple you'd think almost anyone could grasp the concept, yet so many advertisers get advertising completely wrong...web pages are chock full of garish flashing click-bait nonsense...

Disclosure: I am a long-time NPR listener and local station supporter...

You make good points...most of them seem to hinge on your awareness that your time is limited, or that the topic is not one you're intensely interested in...

I'm forced to make choices like that, myself...sadly...a chance to grow as a person--who knows what knocks at our door at any given time?

That's fair...we all get to choose what we read...

Some great works are "insiders"...the writers received the award because other writers understood the difficulty of what was being attempted...and appreciated the effort...

Some works are deeply steeped in, and influenced by, literary theory...they're highly technical, even obtuse to the layman, but other writers "get it"...they're often not "popular" for that reason...

And often they have the most to offer...

>The only reason to write a quality book is vanity at this point.<<

No, not always...the reason some strive to write a "quality" book, is not money, though for some that would be nice...a bit of fame, as well...

Money is not a god...it's a fungible thing that people can use to buy almost whatever they wish...things to play with, time to pursue interests, security for those they love...

Some are "driven" to write, and for such people writing well is the goal...this is because they see what can happen when a writer writes well...a great work can define a time, change minds for the better, illuminate otherwise overlooked aspects of life...and lives...

Writing is a passion, for some, just like coding or problem solving is to some of us in this community...or, like hitting a "home run" financially is for entrepreneurs...

They didn't choose this passion, it chose them...

I admire them...let's not sell them short...they're much like us...passions differ...

The author is right...it doesn't take a high level of talent, or any at all in his example, to become a "best seller"...

I pay no attention to "best seller" labels...

I realized quite some time back that my reading time is far more limited than I would like for it to be...I intend to spend the time I do have reading the best I can get my hands on...

When looking for a good read I most certainly do not start at Amazon...

Rather, I look through lists of the major literary prize winners and select something from them...

Pulitzer Prize Winners, National Book Award winners, Pen Faulkner Award for Fiction winners, Man Booker Prize winners...just to name a few...

I've yet to be disappointed, even when the topics are somewhat outside my everyday interests and hobbies...

A list of the major awards:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_awards#Americ...

There's something there for every taste...and you'll benefit from knowing that someone took a great deal of time and care with their efforts...someone writing seriously...

Agreed, especially on the points touched upon in your last paragraph...

So much of what I see on the Internet seems "dashed off",as if a gun were being held to the writer's head...or, more realistically, as if a paycheck might be withheld, if a deadline could not be met...

When I write a note for others with pencil and paper I write in block caps, draftsman style...no one has ever come back to me and asked, "What did you mean by that?"...

It's simply that no one can tell whether or not you own the car, just by seeing you drive by in it, or seeing it in your driveway...

The true "equity" in a great number of cars on the road--those financed, or leased, is held by a bank, institution or business....

Remember the old false-fronted buildings in the frontier towns portrayed in numerous westerns...?

The wherewithal of those business was likely much smaller than the storefront indicated...

In other words, some consumers will go to great lengths to project "success" when in actuality they haven't quite "made it"...leasing, even renting, a luxury car for that reason is quite common around the world...

This is a very good point...

We all have jobs to do, and we all face obstacles, limitations, and hurdles...we all face them daily in whatever work we do...

We know that, and yet we occasionally think that the situation is different elsewhere, for other people in other professions...we hold them to a higher standard than they can possibly meet, a standard we, ourselves, couldn't meet...and criticize them openly when they fail...

I am guilty of this myself...I'm working on it...

I have never done any work for an organization that I thought could not be improved...I sincerely doubt that any of us have...but when I think about the reasons things aren't done better without fail I come to the same conclusion:

Humans who want to do a better job are constrained, by reality...resources--manpower, money, will, intellect, time...

Sometimes we humans fail simply because of our human physical limitations...we're tired...we need time off...

I think that it's very true that those we elect (or hire) to enforce laws simply cannot enforce them all... all the time...the resources simply aren't there...

We wish they were, but that doesn't change the reality...

Regarding structure scanning, I see a few details online...

Would you consider working up a write up, for Show HN, with all the detail you care to share about your structure scanning experience...?

This has given me an idea for a fundraiser for a local non-profit I support ...

Agreed...

This article is fascinating...this man--Jerry Mitrovica--is obviously a genius...the techniques used to arrive at the conclusions he's reached...just wow...

My takeaway is that the gravitational attraction of ocean waters that the Arctic, Anarctic and Greenland ice sheets currently provide will diminish as those ice sheets melt...

This means that water previously attracted to those ares will move south...

The polar regions will experience lowered sea levels...the temperate regions will experience a rise well beyond what was earlier predicted...

Sobering news...

From the HN-posted article from USA TODAY:

>>The case has far-reaching implications for the privacy of millions of iPhone users, the Apple executive said. If the FBI is successful in its request, it will open a floodgate of requests from prosecutors nationwide.

District attorneys have lined up with hundreds of requests to unlock iPhones to solve criminal cases, the executive said. The idea that the case involves just one iPhone has been debunked, the exec said.<<<

If true, this could be a game changer...

Not being flippant here, at all...I think what you're referencing has been with humans forever...

Older generations doubt the ability of the young to "get things right"...to keep the society they are familiar with on track...

Younger generations, with fresh eyes, wonder how older generations let things "go so wrong"...with an eye toward improving the society they've inherited...

An excellent book, Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals, by Robert Pirsig, explores this and other phenomena in great depth...

It's a semi-sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...

I recommend it...

Here's one site apparently in the works:

Rent a Coder

http://www.rent-acoder.com/project.php?id=44657

Good point...

Populations were distributed more broadly...kids were expected to work at a younger age...no phone or Internet...apprenticeships at a young age were common...

I guess they still had a few other opportunities...school, picnics, sports, swimming down at the creek, church, civic youth groups, summer camp, etc...

"selective enforcement" is an interesting concept...

I have a neighbor (lives across the lake from me) who is a retired police officer...23 years on the job...

I asked him once if there was any truth to the rumor that traffic cops had to meet a quota...

He said, "Not in so many words...every now and then the Captain, during the shift briefing would say, "Boys, I need to see some paper" and we all knew what he meant."

Teens need a "hangout"...some place to be themselves, away from adults, with like-minded friends...a place where they are "understood"...

There's nothing wrong with that...it's been a need for that age group for centuries...

Let them breathe...

Can't disagree with you on the price...but, they offer a superior product for that price...

They've been on the cutting edge for years...

Agreed...

Humans loves a narrative...

Great storytellers often succeed financially when writers of interpretive fiction--literature--barely scrape by...

Each type of author has a place...some readers want entertainment...other readers prefer entertainment coupled with edification...

I think the best novels provide both...Harper Lee did just that...

Well written...

From experience (not mine) too many people consider only one factor when making the majority of purchases with credit:

Can I make the monthly payment...?

If they can they plunge headlong...

Of course just paying the monthly minimum on outstanding credit card balances is disastrous...it's kicking a loaded can down the road...

You might try:

Tiger Direct

newegg

If you want to get really serious check out:

Falcon Northwest